Robert Selden Garnett (April 26, 1789 – August 15, 1840) was a nineteenth-century politician and lawyer from

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

. He was the brother of James M. Garnett and the first cousin of Charles F. Mercer. He served as a member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

from 1817 to 1827.

Biography

Born at "Mount Pleasant" near

Loretto, Virginia Loretto is an unincorporated community in Essex County, in the U.S. state of Virginia. Brooke's Bank, Elmwood, Port Micou, Vauter's Church, and Wheatland are listed on the National Register of Historic Places The National Register o ...

, Garnett attended the College of New Jersey, to planter Muscoe Garnett (1736–1803) and his wife Grace Garnett, nee Mercer (1751–1814), daughter of colonial lawyer John Mercer (1704–1768). He studied law and was admitted to the bar, commencing practice in

Lloyds, Virginia Lloyds is an unincorporated community in Essex County, Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regi ...

. Garnett became a member of the

Virginia House of Delegates The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two houses of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-numbe ...

in 1816 and 1817 and was elected to the

in 1816, serving from 1817 to 1827 as both a

Democratic-Republican The Democratic-Republican Party (also referred to by historians as the Republican Party or the Jeffersonian Republican Party), was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early 1790s. It championed l ...

and a Jacksonian. He was not a candidate for reelection in 1826 and instead continued to practice law in Lloyds until his death on August 15, 1840, at his estate called "Champlain" in Lloyds. He was interred in the family cemetery on the estate.

Family

He married and had children by Charlotte de Gouges (1796–1856), granddaughter of France's early great feminist

Olympe de Gouges Olympe de Gouges (; born Marie Gouze; 7 May 17483 November 1793) was a French playwright and political activist. She is best known for her Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the Female Citizen and other writings on women's rights and Abol ...

, who was executed during the

Reign of Terror The Reign of Terror (French: ''La Terreur'', literally "The Terror") was a period of the French Revolution when, following the creation of the French First Republic, First Republic, a series of massacres and Capital punishment in France, nu ...

in the

Place de la Concorde The Place de la Concorde (; ) is a public square in Paris, France. Measuring in area, it is the largest square in the French capital. It is located in the city's eighth arrondissement, at the eastern end of the Champs-Élysées. It was the s ...

. His only child was Robert Selden Garnett (1819–1861), who was a military officer, serving in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

until the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

External links

1789 births 1840 deaths Members of the Virginia House of Delegates Virginia lawyers Princeton University alumni Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Virginia Jacksonian members of the United States House of Representatives from Virginia 19th-century American lawyers People from Essex County, Virginia Garnett family (Virginia) Mercer family (Virginia) 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 19th-century members of the Virginia General Assembly {{Virginia-Representative-stub